Future RN- June '11

I'll graduate as a RN this june, DEBT-FREE!!!!!!!

I agree! Be prepared for a whole new lifestyle. Nursing school will be your LIFE. It's fun though :) You learn so much and it will go by fast. At least for me. Just don't forget to take even 10 minutes out of every day for yourself. You have to do something to stay sane :)

I have a stethoscope holder that clips onto the waste of my scrub bottoms. Works real well. Half the time it ends up around my neck though. I too see lots of nurses and docs with the stethoscope around their neck. Haven't ever heard of it being unprofessional.

My only advice is to do the best you can and try not to stress out too much. Ever since i started nursing school (fall '09) i have felt like that all the time. There is always too much to do with too little time. You have to just study the most you can and hope for the best. Nursing school is crazy busy! There are so many people pulling you from different directions and wanting different things from you (instructors, patients, family, friends). You just have to figure out a way to balance and prioritize your life. And don't forget to take at least 10 or 15 minutes out of your day to do something for yourself. Something that you love :). Good luck! Hang in there because it is all possible!

Congratulations! Nursing school flies by! Seems like just yesterday I got my acceptance letter and now in just 6 months I will be graduating too! Good luck to you with your new career as a RN! :)

I had a similar experience. During my first clinical rotation in the hospital, the nurses weren't very willing to help out and seemed so relieved when they didn't have a nursing student. I have found that the more experienced you get and the more you can do independently, the more the nurses like you. I just finished my fourth clinical rotation and the nurses LOVED my clinical group. They got really excited when they had a student/students. During my first clinical rotation at the hospital I was not able to do very many skills independently. I needed RN supervision for my med passes, and pretty much all skills. It took alot of time away from the RNs to help me out, which is to be expected when you have a student who is doing something for the first time. I can understand how having a student would be a hindrance to an RN when they are having a super busy day and don't have the extra time to supervise a student. However, that doesn't make it okay for them to treat students poorly. I think some of them forget that they too were a student at one time. Now, back to the rotation I just finished. I was doing full care on three patients and was able to do most everything independently (Med passes, IV flushes, Foley's, assessments, etc.) The only thing I required RN supervision for was IV medications and invasive procedures that I had not yet been checked off on). So imagine that, a student comes along and takes three of your patients and requires minimal supervision. That would not cause a hindrance on their night, in fact it would take alot of work away from them. And that is what I think makes a big difference. Are you actually making their shift easier? Or are you adding stress and more work to their day? I think that is why some nurses don't really care for having students. So i'm guessing that it will get better for you as you move along in your schooling and gain more knowledge and independence. Hang in there. :)

Yeah, i usually get sick at least once per quarter and my instructors are always very understanding and allow me to reschedule or make-up missed tests, classes, clinical, etc. Talk to your instructors to see if that is a possibility- if you haven't already done so.

When citing communication you had with your patient in APA 6, you use in-text citations only, like this: (personal communication, 2010). following the pharagraph with the information from your patient in it. You do not need to cite the personal communication in the reference list.

Great post! Nursing is an awesome, rewarding profession and deserves positive posts! :)

As you can see, it depends on your school. For me, first quarter clinicals were in the nursing home and we didn't have much clinical prep. We had time to look at charts an hour before taking a patient. Second quarter, clinicals were on the med-surg floor. We went in the night before at about 5:30 pm to get our assigned patient/patients and all the information that we thought we would need to be able to efficiently take care of them. After gathering information, we had to go home and look up all of their medications (dosage, route, reason, class, etc...) and make a mini careplan on them. Basically it took the rest of the evening. Third quarter was pediatrics and OB. For peds we got our assigned patients about an hour before we had to start patient care and had to know enough about them to take care of them and also look up their meds. For OB we didn't have clinical prep. Just got assigned to a nurse and worked with her the entire shift. I just finished fourth quarter, which was med-surg again. We had to go into the hospital about 2-3 hours before to pick our patients and gather all the information we needed to take care of them and also enough information to write a 10-12 page paper. It gets easier and easier as time goes on and you learn the pertinent information you need to gather. I know next quarter we don't have clinical prep. We will just get report on our 4-5 patients and pick them up on the fly. At my school they work you up to not having to do clinical prep and preparing you for the real world, where you get your patients when you get to work and are expected to gather the necessary information in a timely manner so you can begin patient care.

You have to find a method that works for you. It took me awhile to figure out the way that works best for me. First I read the book and highlight anything I think I need to know or remember for the test. Once I'm finished reading, I go back and type up everything that I highlighted. Then... I add in the notes that I took from class. It does take paper and ink, but it works really well for me and my notes stay organized and easy to read. Plus, if you have them saved on your computer, you can always reprint them in case you lose your notes.

Helped get me scholarships and all of my nursing school paid for! Plus it was a great experience. :)

My clinical instructor asked for my permission to use my 12 page COPD paper I spent hours on as an "example of a well-connected pathomap". All that hard work sure was worth it :)

I think it would be a very good idea for you to get your CNA license before starting nursing school. I worked full time as a CNA for a little less than 2 months before starting nursing school and I'm very glad that I did. Especially if you have never worked in healthcare before. It will be beneficial for you to become comfortable with approaching patients, taking vitals, and doing basic CNA work before starting your clinicals. I have lots of people in my nursing class who are always telling me that they wished they would have worked as a CNA before starting nursing school. In nursing school you are expected to learn so many different skills and if you already have the basics down, you can focus on the nursing skills. I would say go for it :)

1. by-product of normal metabolic processes. when glucose is metabolised under aerobic conditions, it breaks down into carbon dioxide and water. 2. reabsorption of bicarbonate from urine filtration (kidneys hold onto more bicarbonate to try and balance out the hydrogen ions). Hope this helps :)